


To Every Moment We Shared

by Vex_ation



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: F/M, Gen, If Kusaka won't give me Aster lore I'll write it myself, Pre-Canon, This maybe could hypothetically happen but it's a little farfetch'd, canon compliant but only sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23101288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vex_ation/pseuds/Vex_ation
Summary: The sun has long since set on the life of Aster. The meteor crisis in Hoenn has been averted, and finally, everyone touched by the Lorekeeper is gathered in one place. Knowing this may be her only chance, her Noivern enlists the help of Giovanni to tie up loose ends and get the final word in. She may not be able to bring Aster back, but she can at least make sure that everyone knows what really happened.
Relationships: aster / hawthorne
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	To Every Moment We Shared

Noivern’s sudden cry pierced the summer air, causing all the trainers to turn with a start. Zinnia wheeled closer, concerned with Noivern’s sudden outburst.   
“Amphi, What’s wrong?” she asked as everyone stared at the pokemon in shock. Ampi only shook her head, hastily flying away and chasing after the only man who continued walking despite her protests. Landing in front of him, she let out a screech of frustration. Zinnia’s outstretched hand fell to her side as the entire company wondered what Aster’s Noivern could possibly want with Giovanni.   
The Rocket leader stared at her, seemingly unamused, before finally huffing and moving to walk past. Amphi sent sonic waves and gusts of wind at him, screeching and chuffing as her tail lashed back and forth. Giovanni frowned.   
“Fine,” he snarled at the Pokemon before turning around to face the rest of the trainers.   
“Noivern would like me to help her tell you the truth about Aster, since she doesn’t know when everyone will be here again.”  
Zinnia visibly tensed as soon as Aster was mentioned. The rest of them looked around in uneasy silence before eventually the Draconid elder spoke up.   
“Come, everyone, we can convene at the natural amphitheater up ahead. It will be easier to hear and more comfortable to rest.”  
No one seemed to have any complaints, and though Amphi and Giovanni looked impatient, the rest of them meandered over to the amphitheater without much trouble. Thankfully, most of the bad blood seemed to have gone away, though anyone who was paying attention would have noticed that Zinnia and Mr. Stone sat rather far apart. Even still, everyone who played a role in saving Hoenn was there: the Draconids, the Devon researchers and scientists, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Steven, even the Kanto duo and Giovanni. Though Giovanni didn’t look thrilled to be present, the rest were enjoying the others’ company on the grass, playing with their Pokemon and basking in the sunshine without the threat of the literal end of the world looming over their heads. Unable to wait until he got out of this tropical hellscape, Giovanni cleared his throat.   
“Dear Hoennians, I, as the only person present capable of understanding the language and feelings of Pokemon, have gathered you here today at the behest of Amphi the Noivern, who would like me to deliver the true and complete story of Aster, previous Lorekeeper of the Draconids, before it is too late.”  
Everyone’s murmurs dulled down to nothing, creating a hushed silence that allowed Giovanni’s already thunderous voice to resonate throughout the amphitheater.   
“Everything I am about to say is more or less exactly what Amphi is telling me. She says that it is time you all finally learn the truth about Aster so that perhaps things can be set right again.”  
Not a single person in the amphitheater missed the sight of Zinnia turning to glare at Mr. Stone, who silently turned his head. Giovanni only sighed and began to tell her story for the first time.  
\---  
The Hoennian sun was hot on the day we met. I remember it blazing down, a circle of fire in the sky that offered nothing but relentless waves of heat. And yet, despite the sweltering temperatures that made my fur feel signed, I longed for that warmth that dried the membranes of my wings, that made the wetness on my head disappear like smoke as soon as she lifted me. I remember her bright eyes, her wide smile, and the awe that glittered in her expression. She was the first thing I saw when I hatched from that egg, the first person on his earth who greeted me, who loved me.   
Many of those details were a bit fuzzy, but as we grew together I got to see the wonderful young lady she was quickly becoming. She cared for me like no one else, and I couldn’t ask for a better trainer. Not many dragon types could boast that their trainer loved them for their personality before their strength, for their wit before their typing. And yet, somehow, surrounded by dozens of vicious and powerful dragon-types, Aster had eyes only for me. We were like sisters in a way, blossoming into our responsibilities together. Her little pranks on the village elders became battle practices, the rags she wore on her excursions through the mountains became the costumes of our people.   
I could only wonder, in those days, who was the one being trained. As long and as hard as I practiced, she was with me, learning and growing and evolving just like me. We were a team, and I knew then as I do now that every time the sun would beat on my back or the wind would rustle my hair that she would be beside me even if we couldn’t see each other. As I grew into my powers, she grew into her responsibilities. She was strong, loyal, curious, open-minded… she was everything a Draconid could dream of being. I say this as her Pokemon and as her friend that she really was perfect.   
\---  
“You know,” the village elder interrupted, “I remember the two of you being impish little pranksters. I don’t know how you consider sleeping outside and bragging to be training.”  
Amphi stuck her tongue out at the village elder, who laughed.   
“Can we please keep going? I have a flight to catch,” Giovanni snapped. The village elder held her hands up in defeat, urging him to go on as Blue leaned over and whispered ‘he’s lying’ into her ear.  
\---  
The sky was overcast the day everything went downhill. Dragon types are always in tune with the weather, and I remember how grey clouds blanketed the sky that day. We were training-- not playing any pranks, mind you-- when Aster suddenly announced she wanted to go see a rainbow from the top of Dragonite Basin. We had been told to never go up there, but Aster was a caped warrior now and I was freshly evolved. She was sure we’d be ok, and for the most part, we were. Our shadows were disguised by the sheet of clouds ahead, and we had practiced stealth for so long that quiet footsteps and wingbeats were almost second nature.   
We made it to the top, right by Fang Point, in under an hour. The drizzle smattered our noses and Aster told me all about how she wondered what was out there beyond Meteor Valley, how she wondered what it was like to be a Pokemon Master who could travel wherever they chose. I realized, at that moment, why we were training.   
Aster knew more than I did about the tradition of the Draconids. She sat attentively through every lecture by the Village Elders, cross-legged on those straw floors, learning how they acted and behaved. She wanted to learn through pranks and training how to get the upper hand, how to sneak around, how to live off the land. And that day, sitting on the edge of Fang Point with her, I wondered for a moment if she was going to run away, leave her cape and her home behind to see what lay beyond the mountains. Ever the loyal one, she was.   
“Amphi?” she said. “I can tell you know what I’m thinking. But no, I’m not running away. The fate of the world rests on my shoulders, so I can’t run, not when the people I love need me here.”  
I understood her words, but her eyes told a different story. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and stared ahead at the sky, watching as the clouds parted and shafts of golden light shone down from the heavens. The basin below began to glow a brilliant gold, reflecting the water like tempered glass, and I could see the way her face lit up when she saw something like this, something spectacular, something new. I remember her pulling me back on the grass and pointing out all the Pokemon she could see painted in the clouds.   
“Do you ever wonder what’s past here?” she asked me. “What kinds of people, what kinds of Pokemon? That maybe there’s dozens of people like me out there, who want to explore and meet new friends but can’t? Who have responsibilities, but also… have dreams? Big, grandiose dreams?”  
I didn’t know how to respond back then. I hadn’t known the lands beyond Meteor Valley and neither did she, but I knew in my heart that she shouldn’t have to abandon her dream for her responsibilities. I knew there was another way. So I placed my wing on her hand and brought it to her heart.   
“Do what you love?” she asked. “I mean of course, but… how? I want to travel, why would a Lorekeeper need to travel alone all throughout the Hoenn region?”  
Suddenly, she leapt into the air, just as the clouds fully parted and a rainbow unfurled before us.   
“Hey Amphi,” I remember her saying, “do you want to go on an adventure?”  
\---   
“She never… mentioned any of this,” Zinnia said softly. “I thought… I thought she wanted… I…”   
They could all hear the gentle whimpering from the back of Zinnia’s throat. Giovanni just scowled, knowing this was only the beginning. Something in Amphi’s eyes told him that this story was about to get much, much worse.   
\---  
There was not a cloud in the sky the day they met. I remember it well-- the blue sky, the green grass, the way everything played out in exactly the right way to ruin their lives in the most beautiful way possible. Somehow, despite every effort not to, there was a snag in our plans. Aster had discussed everything with the village elder. We had schedules, meetings, trainings, and everything was supposed to work out in a way that let us be free to explore the vastness of the Hoenn of the region without giving a hint of suspicion to anyone about the domesticity of our intentions. And yet, like all wonderful plans, it was doomed to fail. We had thought about the weather, about training, about who would see us and where we went.   
We did not account for love.   
It came like a summer rain-- without warning or a cloud in the sky. He found our little training spot when looking for a place to read, or so he said, but as soon as he crossed the clearing and saw me, saw her, I knew we were done for. Everyone froze, the meek little man on the outskirts of the field staring in at us training with a flushed face as though he had stumbled in on an intimate affair between two lovers. Before I could do so much as turn around, Aster was already behind a tree, hiding herself among the leaves like a startled Zigzagoon.   
Like a faithful trainer, he coaxed her out. I don’t know if it was his voice or his eyes or his mannerisms, but I saw the way she looked at him: with curiosity, but not in the same way she saw other trainers. This was different. They were products of entirely different worlds, and the inherent mysticism of such a meeting seemed to ignite something within them. I remember his voice, soft and hesitant, so different from the tranquil confidence of Aster. He called out to her, his hand outstretched.   
“Um, hello,” he said, “I’m sorry to disturb your training, but you don’t have to be scared. I, I’m Hawthorne.”  
I couldn’t help but watch with suspicion as he made his way towards the tree that Aster had scuttled behind, adjusting his glasses and peering innocently around the trunk. She surprised him by dropping from the branch above him, landing squarely on her feet and standing close-- perhaps too close-- to the stranger as she looked him over. The two of them were watching each other with amazement; he didn’t understand her cape or mannerisms while she didn’t understand his frumpy outfit or meek personality.   
“What are you doing here, Hawthorne?” Aster replied. The name sounded foreign on her tongue.   
“I, uh.. I don’t know if I should tell that to someone who won’t even give me their name,” he stuttered. Aster frowned, and for a moment the two of them stood there, frozen. Hawthorne leaned back with his eyebrows knit in worry and his book close to his chest while Aster loomed over with skeptical but curious eyes.   
“B- but if you really want to know, I’m a researcher at Devon Corporation. I wanted to clear my head a bit during my break, so I was just trying to find a quiet place to read and relax. I didn’t realize it was your training spot, so if you want me to leave…”  
Aster stepped to the side, blocking him as he tried to skirt away. For a moment, the only sound was the wind rustling the grass and their light breathing. Then, as the first drop of a sunshower smattered against my nose, I heard her whisper   
“My name is Aster,”  
And I knew it was over.   
\---  
“H- Hawthorne?!” Mr. Stone shouted. “He was… he was one of our greatest researchers! He never… I didn’t… I can’t believe this.”  
Amphi silenced the president with a screech. She seemed annoyed at the constant interruptions, so as Giovanni rolled his eyes and continued to speak, Mr. Stone was left to his silent, shocked blubbering.   
\---  
Eventually Hawthorne’s break was over and he had to leave. He promised to be back the next day. I didn’t trust him, but Aster did. I begged her not to return, but she was amazed by his knowledge, his skill, the technology he held in his bag and had at his fingertips.   
He came back, and we were waiting when he did. They talked more-- about nature, about technology, about their separate worlds and mutual curiosity. I thought that would be it, that they would eventually just get tired of each other and everything would be over as soon as Aster and I moved on to another region.   
I was wrong. Every day, he came, and every day, we waited. No longer did Aster want to wander aimlessly. She had made, despite all our efforts to stay elusive, a friend. They never got tired of talking, of exploring, of being in each other’s company.   
As you may have guessed, they fell in love. I saw it before they did, but what was I to do? What was I to say? They both knew the dangers, but that didn’t change anything. Their conversations grew quieter, deeper, and before I knew it I could see the changes in them. I could see the way she looked at him, the way he held her hands. They were the link uniting their separate worlds, their curiosity turning to admiration and friendship and love. Her calloused hands, his soft ones, they fit together. Confident and meek, curious and inventive, they filled each other out perfectly. Though I longed that they would split for their own sakes, I knew it wasn’t to be done.   
None of this could change the fact that the Draconids and Devon were diametrically opposed. If anyone found out, the two of them would be torn apart faster than the eye could blink. They knew that, they had to have known that. But I found them one day curled up in the grass, kissing and laughing until they fell asleep, and I knew that only death could separate them. Soon after that night, after all those months of back and forth, of hiding and running and secrecy, Aster finally broke the news to me that there was a change in plans. I thought maybe, just maybe, she had changed her mind, that she didn’t care as much for this Hawthorne as I believed and that she was returning to her post as Lorekeeper. By then, I was beginning to like him, even if it was just a little bit. I got to meet his Pokemon, a Metang given to him by Devon, and somehow grew fond of them both, of their little idiosyncrasies and quirks and mutual love of all things new and exciting. He was exactly what she needed, and as we flew home, I found myself hoping we would return soon.   
That day we talked to the village elder, that conversation, that was what changed everything. I remember the hot Hoenn sun that made the ground crack, I remember that the sweat on Aster’s brow was from nervousness and not the humidity, and I remember the strange smell that clung to her like musk. She adjusted her cape and went to the village elder like every time we returned. I wondered, for a moment, if our training was done, if we had to resign ourselves to Meteor Valley for the rest of our days. Then, under the cloudless blue sky, Aster asked the village elder for an extended training session. The village elder seemed surprised but obliged nonetheless-- the last journeys had changed Aster for the better. She was more responsible, listened more, was stronger and more calm. She and Hawthorne brought out the best in each other; that much I could see. Perhaps she just wanted the time to spend with him without having to worry about flying back and forth. At the time, I couldn’t pretend to know, I just busied myself with preparations and trying to figure out what in the world Aster was trying to do.   
It was raining the day we left, but in a way that I loved most of all. The gentle drizzle brought a coolness to the scorched region, made the sky soft and overcast like a grey blanket. The blazing sun couldn’t burn, and only the sweet smell of fresh rain and the pitter patter of raindrops could bother us as we soared through the sky. Aster asked me to land in a grove just outside of Meteor Valley. She apologized, at first, for lying to me, for leading me on. Despite all that though, she was smiling. Her hair stuck to her face and her eyes, sparkling like gemstones, looked into mine with utmost sincerity and affection. The scent of the wet earth, however, couldn’t disguise that strange smell I had noticed earlier. As she took my wing in her hand and gently placed it over her belly, the cause suddenly hit me all at once. I could feel life beneath the tip of my wing. We locked eyes, and at that moment I realized I couldn’t tell if the droplets on her face were rain or gleeful tears.   
“Amphi,” she said quietly, “I’m having a baby.”  
\---  
“WHAT?!”  
Everyone, except for perhaps the village elder, looked downright betrayed.   
“I figured as much, but I never imagined… I just hoped it wasn’t true,” she admitted. “Nine months was oddly specific, especially for someone like Aster, but it wasn’t until after that I considered that perhaps…” She sighed.   
“Wha' happened to the baby?” Sapphire asked quietly, but her question was drowned out by the adults.   
“Hold on a moment there. You mean to tell me that the Lorekeeper of the Draconids and the leader researcher at Devon had a child and no one found out?” Mr. Stone snapped.   
“That isn’t all that hard to believe,” Giovanni interrupted. “Amphi says that after the child was born, Hawthorne and Aster split the time between them. It wouldn’t benefit either of them for Devon or the Draconids to find out, so they assumed that perhaps they could keep it secret until they could figure out how to break the news.”  
“... What… what happened?” Ruby asked. The faces of the Devon employees and the Draconids darkened in anger and shame.   
“Embedded Tower happened,” Giovanni replied. “I will spare you the details, but the Draconids and Devon clashed. Aster tried to protect the legendary dragon Rayquaza and Hawthorne charged into the tower after her to try and save her life-- though at this point no one knew the truth about their relationship. They were both killed. Amphi says there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.”  
Amphi hung her head as Giovanni continued to narrate the final pieces of her story.   
\---  
I never found the child. It has been so many years since I last saw their son that I doubt I would recognize him. The Draconids never knew about the child, so he was sent to live with Hawthorne’s relatives. I chased him, trying to hunt down where he could have gone, but by the time I found where they had sent him, he had vanished. Each time I searched, I arrived at a house without a trace of him. Eventually, just when I thought there were no more of Hawthorne’s relatives for him to move to, I found that he had run away. I was too late and I haven’t heard word of him since. I fear he has joined his parents in the sky. I… I wish there was more to the story. I just wanted you all to know that, despite your misgivings, Aster and Hawthorne have always been in love, and that your fighting, whether you think it is justified or not, is not without its consequences. They would have wanted you to try, at the very least, to forgive and love each other. Their legacy… I didn’t want it to be made of secrets and hate. If only to appease them in the heavens, I implore you to just try. You don’t have to be friends, but please. Let go... For them.   
\---   
Silence settled like a blanket over the crowd as the sun mercilessly beat down on every trainer and Pokemon in the theatre.   
“What was the child’s name?” Zinnia asked softly.   
“Dianthus,” Giovanni replied softly, “after the green trick flowers. They thought it was fitting. I have a feeling that it was changed by Hawthorne’s family, however. Such a floral name is Draconid tradition, and I don’t know how keen they were on such a name for the child.”  
No one knew what to say. Eventually, Ruby and Sapphire nodded, both standing up to comfort each other from the raw pain the story brought them. Amphi wondered if perhaps that was a little too intense for the children. The adults and Emerald, meanwhile, just sat there, either trying not to cry or, in Emerald’s case, looking ahead with a strange expression on his face. And then, as if a gift from Rayquaza themself, a lone cloud moved across the sky, shielding them from the sun’s blazing heat. The winds suddenly changed, bringing a new scent from the children's seats-- this time not overpowered by expensive cologne or the scent of the forest-- to Amphi’s nose. Her eyes went wide as moons as she suddenly turned to the crowd.   
The trainers all watched with horror as the massive dragon type lunged, her form no more than a blur as she pounced upon her target in less than a second. No one even had time to scream before she landed, looming like a monster, above the smallest trainer in the amphitheater. Everyone looked startled before finally the village elder’s eyes went wide and Amphi fell to her knees. It seemed the whole world held its breath as Amphi leaned down, bowing low before the terrified and thoroughly confused Emerald before lifting her head to gaze at him lovingly and cooing something none of them could understand. Everyone looked to Giovanni for an interpretation as Emerald, trying to get his bearings, stared into the Noivern’s teary eyes. Even Giovanni looked touched as the scene unfurled.   
“She says that she’s happy she finally found you. That she never thought she would see you alive, much less the savior of Hoenn.”  
“What are you talking about?” Emerald asked quietly. Like a field of lightbulbs flickering to life, the trainers in the amphitheater watched each other as slowly but surely they all reacted to the shock of their new realization. It seemed Emerald was the last to understand, but as Giovanni translated Noivern’s message, everyone turned to Emerald as the nostalgic tears welled up in his eyes. Amphi cooed something that made Emerald fling himself forward and wrap her in a hug, both of them struggling and ultimately failing to hold back those melancholy sobs. Their hearts looked heavy with love and nostalgia, and for once, the other trainers saw Giovanni smile, truly smile, as he translated the last of Noivern’s gleeful cries.   
“… welcome home, my lord. Your mother would be proud.”


End file.
